Conservative Party Conference Fringe: Manchester and beyond - the future of decent work in a digital world

Advances in digital
technology and artificial intelligence are transforming the future of
work. Self-driving trucks are due to be
tested on UK roads in 2018 and are already being piloted in the US where around
3 million people are employed as truck drivers, while in the
Philippines 89 per
cent of call centre jobs are now at risk from automation. Women are also likely to be
disproportionately impacted by automation, and less likely
to be shaping decisions in the tech sector where they are
under-represented.

Image credit: Brian Sokol / Panos

Technological advances represent significant opportunities both for the UK and the rest of
world. With significant
implications for the UK Government and the Global Goal to achieve decent work for all by 2030, this fringe meeting at the Conservative Party Conference seeks to
explore:

The
opportunities and challenges that advances in digital technologies present for
the work place and workers in the future, both at home and abroad?

How
policies across UK government – industrial strategy, education and skills,
international development and trade - can help promote prosperity across the UK
as well as supporting economic development globally?